[applesbiggestfan]

Hey. . . I've got a 4 year old HP Compaq Presario V2000... it's processor is 1.4Ghz Intel Pentium and it has 478MBs of RAM.

I have gotten it repaired 5 times... the track pad seems to work sometimes and sometimes not.

And.......... I'M GETTING A MACBOOK!!!

The earliest I can get one is Christmas... will the upgrades be out by then?
I heard that the new Macbooks will go up to 8GBs of RAM and 2.6Ghz processor...
--------------------
Should I get a Macbook 2.4Ghz with 4GB of RAM for Christmas.
------or--------
(if the upgrades haven't come out by Christmas) Should I wait until early 2009 and get the upgraded ones?

I multi-task a lot... (safari, vuze, frostwire, iTunes, Finder, Chatting, Halo, and various other every-day programs.

Which Macbook would be best suited for me? 2.4Ghz now... or wait until 2.6Ghz and double RAM?


ANY TIPS ARE APPRECIATED... Thanks!

[imitchellg5]

They'll be updated by then. The MacBook probably won't support 8 GB of RAM though until at least next summer (Pros will get it first).

[applesbiggestfan]

Ok, thanks...

But I heard here on the macnn forums that they are going to upgrade to Cantiga... I'm not sure what it is its some kind of chipset or whatever and it supports 8GB of RAM...

My guess is that Macbook will have over 4GB of RAM.

[tcphoto]

If the rumors are correct the announcement will be the 14th. If you can wait a week, it could be rewarding.

[Pierre B.]

Probably I should start a new thread with this, but here we go.

Depending on the details of the new MB generation (hopefully to be released next week), I consider selling my old one. It is a black MB at 2.3 GHz (the Novemeber 2007 generation I think) that cost me 1450 euros. It is under warranty until the end of January 2009. So:

(1) What would be a fair price for me and a potential buyer that would make it sell fast?

(2) It has 4 GB of third party RAM, which I would like to keep for the new one. But would this work with the new models?

Thanks!

[Eug]

Pierre, it really depends on what is released on Oct. 14, and for how much.

P.S. Our national election is Oct. 14. I'm more interested in the MacBook release that day.

[Pierre B.]

Originally Posted by Eug 

Pierre, it really depends on what is released on Oct. 14, and for how much.

Well, yes, of course; but I think in the past there were moments when we could at least partially foresee eventual compatibility based on what technology was available. Lately I have lost the track so I cannont even speculate...

Anyway, we may continue this next week then.

[Eug]

Well, one difference is that many expect that this next release will come not only with a price, but also a new design, which makes it harder to guesstimate what older models will be worth.

Your machine should hold its value comparatively well though, since it is fast and has lots of warranty left.

[applesbiggestfan]

New Macbooks (my predictions):
- Casing = Aluminium
- Processor = Approximately 2.6Ghz Intel Core 2 Extreme
- RAM = 4-8 GB
- Graphics = 256MB Shared VRAM
- Screen = Approx. 13 inch
- Trackpad = multi-touch
- Operating System = OSX Leopard (maybe Snow Leopard)
- USB Ports = 3
- Price = a bit higher (maybe couple hundred $ higher)

I know lots of people will disagree with me... but I like making my own predictions.

Anybody have a better idea of what the Macbooks might be like?

[Simon]

Originally Posted by applesbiggestfan 

Anybody have a better idea of what the Macbooks might be like?

Yep. There is no such thing now as a 2.6 GHz C2E. I'd say max 2.53 GHz Penryn. Expect a firmware cap at 4 GB RAM. Either an X4500 or maybe a lower-end ATI GPU with max 128 MB VRAM. It's much too early for SL. It will be Leopard. I don't expect to see more USB ports than now (2). I would like to see them drop FW400 for a FW800, but that's not likely to happen. I agree about the Al case. Entry-level price will likely be $999. $899 isn't entirely impossible, but I'm not at all convinced yet. There will be no MB lite or any kind of netbook. The MBA will become a bit less expensive and offer more expansion though.

[applesbiggestfan]

Its apple... I doubt they will increase their Macbooks processor by 0.13Ghz...

The macbook has the best value out of all their notebooks...
and I think they will increase more than just 0.13Ghz on the processor.

[Simon]

It's not just 130 MHz. It's going from an older 800 MHz FSB Penryn to a new 1067 MHz FSB refresh Penryn with twice the L2 cache (6 vs. 3 MB).

In the past they've gone form 2.0 to 2.16 and from 2.2 to 2.4.

Also, compared to other $1k notebooks the MB is doing very well CPU-wise. It's other things (graphics, RAM, disk, optical) that are in need of an improvement.

[applesbiggestfan]

I still think that a 130Mhz increase is a bit small for Apple...

And I don't know much about the front side bus and the L2 Cache... I've read about the L2 cache but does it increase the speed by a lot?

And how much difference will the frontside bus make?

[Simon]

To a user browsing the web or reading e-mail the difference will be minute. Of course if you do CPU-dependent tasks, you will notice an improvement on the order of 5%-30% depending what exactly you are benchmarking.

Apple doesn't have a whole lot of CPU options for a Cantiga MB.
T9600 - 2.80 / 6MB / 1066 MHz - TDP 35 W - $530
T9400 - 2.53 / 6MB / 1066 MHz - TDP 35 W - $316
P9500 - 2.53 / 6MB / 1066 MHz - TDP 25 W - $348
P8600 - 2.40 / 3MB / 1066 MHz - TDP 25 W - $241
P8400 - 2.26 / 3MB / 1066 MHz - TDP 25 W - $209

There are rumors about a 2.66 GHz part. I expect to see the P9500 and the P8400 in the new MBs. Or they could go for something "custom". They haven't done so on the MB before, but they have on other Macs. I'm not expecting that though. I think low TDP and price are the key issues for the choice of the MB CPU.

[applesbiggestfan]

Okay... now I'm starting to think that it will be 2.53Ghz because 2.8Ghz is probably hard to fit into a macbook and the price would be too high.

But I sure hope the rumours are true... 2.66Ghz would be great!

Do you think MBPs will have the 2.8Ghz Cantiga processors?

[applesbiggestfan]

I went browsing on the Intel website and I noticed most of the newer processors can go up to 12MBs of L2 Cache...

If Intel sticks with Core 2 Duo for the Macbooks the highest processor speed is 2.4Ghz.
Which means if they go Core 2 Extreme it can go over 2.53Ghz with 12MBs of L2 Cache.

YAY!

I've heard rumors of 8GBs of RAM and even 6 GBs of RAM rumors... anything possible?
or will it stay 4GB

[Brien]

I haven't seen any solid evidence of specs. There were rumors of an event on the 14th, but with no announcement yesterday that becomes unlikely.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by applesbiggestfan 

Do you think MBPs will have the 2.8Ghz Cantiga processors?

Absolutely. Actually I'm secretly hoping for the quad-core QX9300 as a BTO option on the new MBP.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by applesbiggestfan 

I went browsing on the Intel website and I noticed most of the newer processors can go up to 12MBs of L2 Cache...

But mobile CPUs are different. The only mobile CPUs to come with 12 MB L2 are the quad-core QX9300 and Q9100. But I would definitely not count on Apple to use those in the MBP. Hope yes, count on it no.

If Intel sticks with Core 2 Duo for the Macbooks the highest processor speed is 2.4Ghz.
Which means if they go Core 2 Extreme it can go over 2.53Ghz with 12MBs of L2 Cache.

Not quite. The fastest C2D for Cantiga will be the T9600 at 2.8 GHz. There are rumors about a 2.93 GHz T9800 at 35W. They all have 6 MB L2. Beyond that there are the C2E: the X9300 at 3.1 GHz (dual-core, 6 MB) and the QX9300 at 2.53 GHz (quad-core, 12 MB).

I've heard rumors of 8GBs of RAM and even 6 GBs of RAM rumors... anything possible?
or will it stay 4GB

The Cantiga chipset will allow Apple's portables (and eventually the iMac and mini) to support up to 8 GB of RAM. On the MBP I expect that to be possible upon launch. On the MB I expect them to limit it to 4 GB in firmware.